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John Carmack, Rocket Boy
will_edit_for_food writes "Space Future has an interview with John Carmack (of Doom and Quake fame) about his new company Armadillo Aerospace and their plans to build a passenger-carrying vehicle for space tourism." Carmack's involvement with unconventional rocketry is well-known, but this interview offers a glimpse into the details of Armadillo's approach to the skies.
Three generations of rockets down the road, John will GPL the specs for the first rocket!
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
We straightened the bent frame by wedging it between the trailer and Joseph's tractor, and running a floor jack under the middle until it straightened out. Russ gave it a quick paint job.
;p
Holy cow, I didn't know Carmack was such a farm boy.
Maybe if he stopped screwing around with this Doom III might actually get out the door before the Mars landing.
I wonder if he'll send some marines off to Mars one day,just to see.....
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
I never knew he was Darwin Awards fodder. To think he'd rather privatize space travel! He must not have obtained enough vicarious adrenaline rushes from his own games.
jawiejfasd'AJSEIORARJSAEAJSIOERJFjasdf yoink Of course, this assumes that I am the first mental feeb posting, and that may not be true . . .
I've seen what Carmack can do with the BFG - I'm not about to ride one of those into orbit!
from the site:
:P). I'm sure they're having a lot of fun though :)
We straightened the bent frame by wedging it between the trailer and Joseph's tractor, and running a floor jack under the middle until it straightened out. Russ gave it a quick paint job.
I don't doubt that Carmack is a smart guy, but these guys are basically garage tinkerers. I wouldn't really want to fly into space on a vehicle that used duct tape as an integral part of the craft. Even if these guys can build something capable of propelling someone into space, I wouldn't want to actually be on it until the design had been worked out by real engineers.
Aside from some of the computer control stuff, I doubt they are really doing all that much innovated (well, aside from cost saving measures
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Interesting that they want to use HP engines. Last I checked, these were smaller engines used simply for course correction. (aren't the OMS engines on the Shuttle hydrogen peroxide?) The logistics of a directed hypergolic reaction outside of the microgravity of space must be an interesting on as well. (How they plan to get enough of the stuff to take off....)
FOr that matter, I don't see any plans for an orbital insertion vehical/stage. The site isn't very clear on the business plan.
Space tourism. w00t!
Just so long as it doesn't involve a rocket jump.
I know I'm going to hell, I'm just trying to get good seats.
Promoting John Carmack's venture could really use the help of Art Bell. He has an excellent track record of publicizing unorthodox space ventures. And Art Bell is one of the few venues which will reach a larger audience than Slashdot! For those unfamiliar with Art Bell, he hosts a nightly radio show which is heard worldwide. It is devoted to space exploration and "midnight" engineering.
Pets often make for a delightful addition to any family. After all, what's cuter than waking up to the gentle affectionate licks of a small kitten or the delicate barks of an excited puppy?
However, unfortunate circumstances may sometimes come about and you may have to make the most difficult choice of your life: just how should you go about murdering your pet?
It's happened to the best of us. You and your life partner decide that new carpeting would make a positively delightful addition to your suburban home. But you both know that you can't trust Max to only release waste when outdoors, so it's either the carpet or the puppy that has to go. Being the intelligent person that you are, you wisely decide to end Max's life; after all, the carpet will cost upwards of fifteen hundred dollars, whereas Max was only a few Benjamins.
So, how do you go about killing the sweet innocent puppy without anyone knowing that it was murder and not an accident?
If you didn't already have a normal walking regiment with your dog, start one. Find a park nearby to take your pet, but ensure that it has some body of water.
Most people don't realize that cats will act fairly well on the end of a leash as well! So, don't hesitate to buy a specialized cat leash from the mall pet store just for your cat or kitten. Getting them used to walks will only take a few days or so.
So, at this point, you should be taking your cat or dog on regular walks near a lake or pond of some sort. The next installment will give detailed instructions on the next part of your secret plan, so be sure to visit this site again in a couple of days.
Smile -- you're now 33% closer to having one less "family" member!
-
26 year-old Web developer from Seattle. And yes, chicks do dig *nix
You know, I like Junkyard Wars, but I wouldn't want to risk my life to it.
This now concludes our broadcast day.
Other/Other - None 8 August 2002
The Armadillo Rocketeers
You'll believe an armadillo can fly
In Mesquite, Texas, a small group of technicians and enthusiasts is quietly working to open space to the general public. Armadillo Aerospace is one of a growing number of start-up ventures attempting to accomplish what NASA and the big aerospace companies refuse to do: send paying passengers from all walks of life into space to find their destiny or to have a bit of fun.
Computer games guru John Carmack started Armadillo Aerospace to fill the void--literally and figuratively--left by space agencies and defense conglomerates.
"I first got bit by the space bug about two and a half years ago," says Carmack, "largely due to the Space Frontier Foundation's CATS prize."
The CATS (Cheap Access To Space) Prize was offered to the first private group to build and launch a simple unpiloted rocket to the edge of space (100 kilometers, roughly 62.5 miles). The CATS Prize competition lasted only a limited time, and as no team reached the desired altitude, the prize was never awarded. But several teams made significant progress in high-altitude rocketry in the attempt.
"I didn't have the skills to actually compete at the time," says Carmack, "but I funded the last year of work for two of the teams (JP Aerospace and SORAC) while I was building my knowledge base. When I was ready to start pursuing my own projects, I contacted the local high-power rocketry society to see if there were any local people interested in working at the high end of experimental rocketry."
With that, Carmack began assembling his team. Through the aforementioned high-power rocketeers, he met Phil Eaton, who had been working with Russ Blink on experimental hydrogen peroxide rockets. Eaton brought in Neil Milburn and Joseph LaGrave. Carmack then drafted his Ferrari mechanic, Bob Norwood, to help out. Today, Armadillo Aerospace includes two more members and, according to their web site (www.armadilloaerospace.com), an armadillo named Widget. The staff (except, presumably, Widget) got to work not only on designing but also building rocket vehicles.
Recently, Armadillo Aerospace has built and flown several small, unpiloted vertical takeoff and landing ( VTVL) craft for low-altitude testing. The Armadillo team has chosen to start their development program using simple hydrogen peroxide rockets, not too different from the propulsion system used in the "rocket belt" jet packs of the 1960s. This simplifies development while the team uses the landers to perfect their flight control system.
"Our entire three-axis, stabilized propulsion system is less complicated than a single one of XCOR's LOX/alcohol engines," says Carmack, who is an investor in XCOR and supports their work. But, Carmack says, "we are taking complimentary directions to space."
Armadillo is now developing a piloted lander scaled up from the smaller craft. "I would not expect anyone to go higher than about 50 feet with it," says Carmack. "In theory, it could build up about 100 m/s velocity if flown flat out, but that would be a bad idea, given the lack of streamlining."
The X-Prize, the US$10 million award for the first private team to send paying passengers on a sub-orbital spaceflight, then do it again two weeks later, is Armadillo Aerospace's ultimate goal--one that John Carmack thinks he may have a shot at winning. But the team first plans to cut its teeth on several additional vehicles. "Our first streamlined tubular vehicle will be flying soon (unmanned)," says Carmack, "but it will only go a few thousand feet high. The next vehicle will be a manned vehicle aimed at breaking the low altitude time-to-climb record. After that will probably be a vehicle aimed at a single-man space shot. Then it will be time for an X-Prize vehicle."
The program reflects a conservative build-and-test strategy for winning the X-Prize. "The teams that think they are going to build an X-Prize vehicle on their first try are kidding themselves," warns Carmack. "Mistakes will be made, and it is much better to make mistakes with smaller vehicles than larger vehicles."
Each vehicle teaches Armadillo Aerospace what to do and what not to do in building and flying a tourist rocketship, from perfecting the attitude control system to selecting the right design for the landing gear. "We hope to be proving our laser altimeter based auto-hover and auto-land soon," says Carmack.
While development of the interim vehicles is underway, Armadillo's engineers are already designing the X-Prize vehicle. "We have already gone through two prospective designs," says Carmack, "so there is a high likelihood that what we are currently thinking is not what we will be building in 2004."
The vehicle will most likely be vertical takeoff and landing, and it will probably use hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, though Armadillo is also working with other propellant combinations. "We have not nailed down exactly what combination of parachute / rocket thrust / rocket rotor will be used for descent," says Carmack. "We will be learning a lot with our upcoming test vehicles."
The 2000's are an exciting time for commercial spaceflight. The dream of access to space for everyone is becoming reality. And Armadillo Aerospace plans that one of the pioneering companies to open this new frontier will include on its staff an armadillo called Widget.
AB 8 August 2002
Yes, I am a karma whore
[ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]
When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.
Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.
FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.
It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.
So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.
Discussion
I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.
From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.
There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.
Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.
Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?
Shouts
To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.
To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It's when you get distracted by the politickers that they sideline you. The tireless work that you perform keeping the system clean and building is what provides the platform for the obsessives and the prima donnas to have their moments in the sun. In the end, we need you all; in order to go forwards we must first avoid going backwards.
To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too. No, my resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at lunchtime today. It's about real problems that the project faces, real problems that the project has brought upon itself. You can't escape them by inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from within.
To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can. No, the project isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning corporate juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions going around are in need of a solid dose of reality. Keep it simple, stupid.
To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that they can hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a break, if you can. When the current core were elected, we took a conscious stand against vigorous sanctions, and some of you have exploited that. A new core is going to have to decide whether to repeat this mistake or get tough. I hope they learn from our errors.
Future
I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun. If I'm going to continue, it has to be fun again. There are things I still feel obligated to do, and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those obligations.
However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political mess the project is in right now. I tried, I burnt out. I don't feel that my efforts were worthwhile. So I won't be standing for election, I won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in the next round of ballots.
You could say I'm packing up my toys. I'm not going home just yet, but I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the project somewhere fun to be again.
= Mike
--
If not then it ought to be. Same goes for regular small model rockets available at hobby shops and other places. It's dangerous and should be outlawed.
errr....not?
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
Fact: *BSD is dying
So his day job involves being one of the world's best software engineers... and in his spare time he is a rocket scientist? Someone tell God to spread the smarts around, ok? Maybe the Joe-sixpacks and Soccer-moms could get a little?
Presumably to be award to those on their way to destruction, or possibly those who have no chance to survive make their time.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Know your enemy. Study this list of Jews trying to destroy your freedom:
- Rosen
- Coble
- Berman
- Eisner
- Redstone
The Jews never create anything. They are the parasites who wedge themselves between the producer and the consumer. The Jew takes a slice of every pie that passes by. What the Jew hates is that the Internet is cutting him off from his host. The artists can now distribute directly to their fans. The Internet has made the Jew irrelevant. So the Jew tries to buy the politician to do his bidding. The Jew tries to get bought politicians to pass bogus regulations in order to maintain Jew hegemony over the consumer.Listen and learn about the Jew in this mp3.
Learn the Truth about the Jew
But, Carmack says, "we are taking complimentary directions to space."
I hope those directions are up.
Tastes like burning! - Ralph Wiggum
the BFR (big f-ing rocket).
====
Crudely Drawn Games
John Romero will for a failing space flight program based in Dallas to compete with Caramack!
I wonder if Romero can tuck all that hair inside a space helmet?
Quad rocket jumping on DM3, you can take the whole map with you...except of course, they won't survive the jump! hahaa
Learn to know, the dark side of the force, and you will achieve a power greater than any Jedi...the power to save your w
So Carmack decided that after conquering video games, he was ready to conquer the pages of the Darwin Awards?
Seriously, I wouldn't get in an airplane built by these guys, a boat built by these guys -- or even a CHAIR built by these guys... Stay to the non-physical world of coding fellows.
1 - Look down at your feet ...
2 - Jump and fire rocket at same time
3 - ???
4 - PROFITS!!!
(sorry couldn't resist)
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
I have only been able to find four songs on George Lincoln Rockwell and
his Hatenanny Records label. "Ship Those Niggers Back" and "Non-violent
Niggers" were performed by Otis and the Three Bigots. Here is an
interesting bit of GLR's Playboy interview concerning one of these songs:
PLAYBOY: Is mail-order hate literature your main source of income?
ROCKWELL: That, plus initiation fees from new members; plus small
donations from those who believe in what we're trying to do; plus the
proceeds from special events like one of our "hate-nannies."
PLAYBOY: What are they?
ROCKWELL: Big musical jamborees. We hold them on patriotic holidays.
PLAYBOY: Would you give an example of a hate-nanny lyric?
ROCKWELL: Sure. Remember, you asked for it: "Ring that bell, shout for
joy
them on the pier
those apes back to the trees
million ugly coons are ready on their pier
Africa for blacks
day is here
spear
more of it?
PLAYBOY: No, we get the general idea.
Maybe these two should sit down and just *talk* about rocketing to outer space in a tin can built for two.
At least Walker isn't advocating that someone *else* sit in his fuel-powered deathtrap.
Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0
And at the Nuremberg Tribunal, chief U.S. prosecutor Robert Jackson charged that the Germans used a "newly invented" device to instantaneously "vaporize" 20,000 Jews near Auschwitz "in such a way that there was no trace left of them." No reputable historian now accepts either of these fanciful tales. These lies are cooked up so that money can be extracted for the supposed "victims".
the article is not slashdotted, as least check through a proxy before you post a mirror. Just cause your network connection is fucked doesnt mean everyones is, I read the article and i dont like having to see it again and waste time downloading your post.. karma whore, mod parent down
because he secretly knows that the story line in Quake(II mostly) isn't fake, and that he knows we need a to hurry up with any kind of space flight systems development for hope of beating the aliens many years from now
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
so he can be the first gamer in space. "w00t.. quad rocket jump rail from space!" He'll play for 5 minutes then realize his arm gets too sore from holding down the mouse against the pad in zero G.
then he'll create a new company to create devices for the masses who wants to lan from space.
Now no one has ever ascribed rhetorical gifts to Hillary, as boring a speaker as one is ever likely to hear. And yet her disciplined admirers had so worked themselves into an emotionally charged state that they reacted to Hillary's droning as of it were electrifying rhetoric. This spectacle is so alien to American political tradition and so totalitarian in its subtext that I felt an unpleasant tingling sensation, one I had no trouble in associating with a dreadful feeling of foreboding.
The fanatical response of Hillary's disciples made me think that something very special in America was being extinguished. I think I now know how those decent Germans who valued civilized traditions and the best in Western thought must have felt as they saw the malevolent Hitler and his fanatical followers drag Germany into an intellectual dark age.
That something very unAmerican (a terribly reactionary word) was going to happen was presaged by the deliberately disgusting behavior of some of Hillary's admirers before the conference began. Proudly carrying Ol' Glory an Albany Police Honor Guard in full-dress uniform led the Police Department's Pipes and Bags into the Pepsi Arena, only to be spat on by Hillary supporters and abused as "Nazis" and "members of the Third Reich." This vile behavior was no aberration. This is exactly what so-called new Democrats (the intellectual dregs of our humanities and legal departments) really think. To them uniforms and the Stars and Stripes symbolise oppression, racism, sexism, rape (except when Bill Clinton does it) capitalism and probably even child abuse.
Did Hillary apologise for her supporters' behavior? Of course not. Did the New York media rush to report it? No way. Christopher Hitchens, a left-wing writer, observed that the New York media is just an extension of the Clinton political machine; a fact he found especially disturbing. Under the Clintons freedom of the press has now come to mean freedom to apply with impunity the politics of personal destruction to the Democrats' enemies. These Democrats and their media toadies are without integrity or honor. They are people who entertain only contempt for patriotism, the Constitution and those values that made the Republic the envy of the world.
Despite what some may think, I'm not exaggerating when I say a Hillary victory will pose a long-term danger to American liberties. Putting aside her support for the drug-peddling Black Panthers, her White Water shenanigans, her perjury, the vicious role she played in trashing her husband's victims or even her cruel treatment of Billy Dale and the White House Travel Office staff, etc., there is also her support for the administration's assault on the fourth amendment.
It is now indisputable that her husband and Reno violated the fourth in the Elian Gonzalez case. Moreover, this pair are in the process of inserting a secret search measure that would allow any federal agency to not only enter without warning and without a warrant any American home and search it but to also enter any home in the absence of the owner or tenant. In other words, they would have the 'legal' right to break into any home at will and search it in complete defiance of the fourth amendment.
If this latest Clinton outrage is not a threat to American liberties I'm at a complete loss to know what is. But before any American complains let him first recall that this fascist measure is intended to formalise what Clinton and Reno did to Elian Gonzalez and his Miami relatives. Those who supported that attack on the Constitution are in imminent danger of reaping what they helped sow.
The irony has not been lost on those who fully understand that the Constitution was designed by wise men to frustrate the inordinate political ambitions of those like the Clintons who believe they have the right to use power in any way they see fit, even if it means destroying the Constitution and the liberties it was meant to protect.
cramck just wants to use the phrase
"TO THE MOON ALICE!"
Dear Hemos,
Now that I'm away at pedophile camp, CmdrTaco told me to clarify and explain some of your new duties to you. You see, CmdrTaco got the kind of service he demanded from me, and now that I'm gone, he expects the same service from you, his second son.
You may as well make up your mind right now to abandon every shred of self-respect you've got, because you will be undergoing, every day from now on, some of the most humiliating ordeals you ever dared to imagine.
I will try to give you some tips to prepare you for the suffering that's ahead of you; but whatever horrors I tell you here fall short of the reality--so bear that in mind!
I guess I'll start by describing what we might call your "morning toilet duty." This is one of the hardest to get used to, but you have no choice, so you might as well do it right the first time. I guess that, like me, when I was your age, you've never tasted shit--so you'd best get some practice by eating your own shit until you can get it down without vomiting.
I can't overstress this. Few things put CmdrTaco in a meaner mood than a son who throws up--there was a time a few years back when I DID throw up (I forget what it was that CmdrTaco made me do--I think it was just from the smell of one of his sneakers).
Anyway, you don't want to know what happened to me that time.
A certain amount of nausea and gagging is unavoidable, however; in fact, I think CmdrTaco even expects it, because if you ever get used to something, he seems to always figure out a way to make it grosser and more disgusting for you!
Once you've had enough practice eating your own shit so that you can manage it without any difficulties, you should try to get someone else's shit--the smell of someone else's is less familiar, and it's harder to deal with this. Some of CmdrTaco's pals who aren't little fagmouths like you and me will occasionally help in this regard by leaving the toilet unflushed when they know you're around. Don't miss these opportunities to prepare yourself. I used to wait around on poker nights for hours. It was embarrassing, sure, because they all knew what I was waiting for, and either howled with laughter over my misfortune, or else looked at me with disgust--but in spite of that, I guess they know that CmdrTaco could make any one of them do what you and I have to do, so they leave something for you to experiment with. I was also lucky in that my friends Lenny and Bob were often a bit careless at their house, and that gave me further opportunities.
I have found that it is usually best to prepare for morning toilet duty by neither fasting nor eating too much--a very light breakfast seems to be best, with bland food--some toast, maybe, some milk--just bear in mind that if you eat too little, you may retch because you're faint, but whatever you eat, you WILL be fighting to keep it down a bit later! Don't think you'll be in full control, because I've tried and failed.
CmdrTaco usually needs to take a dump at about 7:20, so you should show up in the bathroom at about 7:10, just in case he's early. Remove all of your clothes, and kneel in front of the toilet (make sure that the toilet is flushed and clean--even though CmdrTaco doesn't use it--after all, you don't want to give him any bright ideas, do you?).
Step One. CmdrTaco will walk over to where you are kneeling. Greet him by bending down, and kissing his feet (he will probably be in one of his smelly pairs of socks) and then straighten up to fly level again. Unbutton the fly of his boxer shorts, and let them down.
Now, if he is wearing sweatpants or pj's, you should undo the tied laces with your teeth. This takes a bit of practice. If he is wearing button-fly bottoms, you must be a bit more ceremonious about his fly. Starting at the top button, you should plant a worshipful kiss on the button, gently undo it with your mouth, and, when the button is undone, kiss it again reverently.
Now, underneath his pajamas he may be wearing nothing, or else he may have briefs or a jockstrap on.
If you see briefs or a jockstrap, you should locate, as best you can, the tip of his penis inside it, and place your lips on it in another respectful kiss, and breathe through your nose, inhaling the odor so he can hear. Wait for CmdrTaco to say "okay," which indicates you may continue. At this point, you gently pull down the undergarment with your mouth and teeth. If he is naked under his pants, this step is omitted.
Next comes CmdrTaco's morning piss. Unless he specifically instructs you otherwise, the usual routine is to take his soft or semi-soft penis into your mouth very gently (try your darnedest not to stimulate a hard-on), hold your mouth as still as you can, and wait.
CmdrTaco will probably pace himself at first, but you should still gulp down his piss as fast as you can. Don't let any drip out of your mouth--which he finds very insulting. Swallow quickly, and expect some of it to get into your nose--it can't always be helped. You will soon get used to the salty, bitter flavor, and the smell is not too hard to take.
If you do spill any, on the floor, or, heaven forbid, on him, don't wait to be told. The moment he is finished pissing, get down there and lap it all up immediately. If you get it on the floor, CmdrTaco's usual punishment is simply to step in it, to make it even dirtier, and you have to lap up the black liquid, and then lick the last few drops off the sole of his feet.
After he is through pissing, swallow a few times to clear your mouth, and then turn around and sip a mouthful of water out of the toilet (which, we assume, contains clear water at this point--you see why I warned you to flush it!). Rinse your mouth and spit a few times--this is not so much to relieve you of the taste as to prepare you for the next step. I should also mention that CmdrTaco does not handle or shake his penis when he is pumping his piss into you, so you should, before disengaging your mouth, carefully squeeze the large vein on the underside of his penis with the pointed tip of your tongue, just to make sure you have wrung out the last few drops.
So far, this is all pretty easy to do--because CmdrTaco frequently does a workout before your morning toilet duty, however, you will find that his piss tends to be quite concentrated and dark. Hardly ever will you find his piss to be dilute and watery.
Another thing you should expect is that CmdrTaco's body, in general, is especially flavorful at this time, because he doesn't wash in the morning until you've done your toilet duty.
Which brings us to the next important bit--one which is especially important if it is the day after a night out, or if he's just back from a hiking trip or something. With your cleansed mouth, push back his foreskin and carefully and thoroughly wash the head of his penis in your mouth, collecting your saliva so that there is enough to really swish it about. Use your tongue to dislodge any deposit of smegma that you find there, and of course, this smelly disagreeable stuff is to be swallowed too. However, this time do NOT just gulp it down. When you have cleaned off the glans, let it slip out of your mouth, and HOLD the liquid on your tongue, looking up at CmdrTaco. Wait for him to say "okay, swallow!" at which point your mouth filled with cock-cheese diluted in spit goes down your throat.
Now comes the tough part. CmdrTaco will turn around so that your face is opposite his ass. Kiss both cheeks of his ass to indicate that you are ready to serve him, and then lie down flat. (Sometimes CmdrTaco will have you place the back of your neck up against the rim of the toilet seat, but let's discuss basics first.)
Then he will squat over your face, with his balls and prick hanging over your chin and chest. You should bring a sneaker with you to place on your chest to catch any stray drops of urine (or, if you do a good job, semen) that leak out of his penis during your work.
The first step now is to clean the entire crack of his ass, from his balls to the small of his back. Work on one side of the valley first, flattening your tongue and rubbing it up and down the crack to remove the sweat or brownish slime that collects in it. Work quickly, and remember to BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE!
CmdrTaco gets very annoyed at shortcuts, and takes a dim view of boys who don't inhale the stink they should honor. (If you ever feel a warning pressure of a heel on your balls, chances are you have instinctively started breathing through your mouth to escape the smell of CmdrTaco's ass.)
You may find that bits of unmentionable stuff are clinging to the hairs in the crack--try first softening them with saliva and sucking to dislodge it and separate the hairs, but if all else fails, trim the ass-crack hair with your teeth. Do not pick ass-hairs off your tongue--swallow them. Don't forget about your balls, which are right where he can get at them--and behave!
When the crack of his ass is completely clean, you are ready for the next step which is to lubricate the anus and rectum so that the shit will slide out more easily. This takes some work, but soon your tongue muscles will get stronger, allowing you to accomplish this step with greater ease.
Begin by planting your mouth directly over his anus, sealing your lips around the perimeter. Point your tongue and wet it thoroughly with your spit and then push hard against the tight anus with it. Retract your tongue to wet it again frequently--about once every five to ten seconds. Expect it to bring back a certain amount of flavor--rather like the taste of his ass-crack, but a bit stronger.
Each thrust of your tongue should take you a little deeper into his asshole, and, as you warm up his ass, he should be able to relax his ass a bit more, so that you can get further up into it. Keep breathing through your nose, and keep retracting your tongue to get as much spit up his ass as you can. The harder you work now, the easier the rest will be (on CmdrTaco).
I'm trying to describe this calmly and clinically, but you will find that all sorts of emotions overcome you as you actually perform this the first time. For one thing, your perverted little prick will be rock-hard. You will also feel a certain amount of shame: after all, CmdrTaco is looking right at that evidence of your queerness. Another thing you'll feel is resentment, which you must fight down--after all, there is no escape. You will realize that you can never kiss again without thinking of the use to which your mouth was put--and that whoever you will ever kiss will be placing their mouth on an orifice that served this purpose. Finally, you will feel a humility unlike anything you've ever felt before, because, after all, you are about to perform the most degrading act that a boy can perform for a man. And, of course, you will be feeling a growing degree of nausea.
There is one moment I cannot help you prepare for--it is the toughest to overcome--and that is the moment when you get up deep enough inside CmdrTaco's ass that you make contact with his shit. It is almost an instinctive reflex to retract your tongue and try to throw him off. Fortunately, CmdrTaco is stronger than you, and there is no danger of your actually getting his ass away from your mouth--but I advise you to lie on your hands anyway.
It is at this moment that you must keep your wits about you. Breathe through your nose--not only because you must, but because that will help to keep you from retching.
Remember also that from about this moment, you have an important job to do, which is to keep any shit-odor from getting to CmdrTaco's nose. How to eat a fart is beyond the scope of what I want to write up in this letter, but you must eat them.
The important point to make here is that no matter how overcome you get at this crucial moment, DO NOT LET YOUR LIPS BREAK THEIR SEAL AROUND DAD'S ANUS! Just make up your mind that your mouth is an annex to his rectum, and keep it in place!
Now, in general, CmdrTaco will know when you've lubed him up well enough, and will start letting his shit move down the chute. You should gather your strength and start to suck--easy to say, but wait till you feel how hard it is to muster your strength and force yourself to do what every nerve in your body is rebelling against!
You must suck, I say, to assist CmdrTaco in dropping his turd. Once it starts emerging, it should just shoot out, at least most of it will, without any suction, but until it gets to the point of "no return" as it were, SUCK HARD!
When it does get to the point of no return, press your mouth up against his asshole as hard as you can, so that the turd, which is usually about a foot long and three inches or so in diameter, will remold itself to fit inside your mouth. You will have to struggle a bit to keep your jaw as open as you can--and you will learn how to swallow a bit of it without closing your mouth to make this part a little easier.
But remember--no stink should escape your mouth and get to CmdrTaco's nostrils--that's the most important thing--so don't close your lips until you are certain that all shit is either inside your mouth, or trapped behind his closed sphincter muscle--there IS usually a bit of "leftover" which I'll discuss in a moment.
Now, the feeling of having your mouth stuffed to the brim with your father's shit is too complex to describe, and I won't try. Suffice to say that your gagging and need to retch will have you bucking, physically; you will probably turn quite red in the face; you will probably feel tears running down your cheeks; you may ejaculate; you will feel the stink inside you--your nose reacts to smells in your mouth, after all, as well as smells around your face; and there's no helping a violent reaction, so just concentrate on the one important thing which is to keep your lips sealed tightly over your mouthful, and pressed just as tightly against his ass.
When you gain enough control, start (slowly!) chewing. You will probably have to swallow some more without chewing before you can safely chew without letting some odor loose--but chew you must. I was a wiseguy a few years ago: I taught myself to swallow turds directly down my throat, without chewing at all. The first time I performed morning toilet duty, CmdrTaco shot out his turd, and it continued going straight down my throat, without collecting in my mouth first. And, it's true, I tasted almost nothing. Well, CmdrTaco was furious, and to teach me a lesson, he suspended me from toilet duty for a whole month. Before you get any bright ideas, you should know that at the end of the month, I discovered that he had collected ALL the shit from EVERY ONE of his pals, including his own shit, for that entire month, in a huge beer barrel in the garage.
It just sat there, all month, getting more and more disgusting. What happened next--well, just don't get any cute ideas...you don't want to know what happened next.
The moral of the story, though, is CHEW. Taste it. It takes real strength to force yourself to do it, but do it. Chew it, and liquify it in your mouth, and bit by bit, swallow it down. Again, I can't prepare you entirely for the textures, the flavors, the odors--no two of the CmdrTaco's dumps are entirely alike. It all depends on what he's been eating lately.
In general though, what you get is pretty solid and needs to be chewed.
Now you're in the home stretch, if you haven't passed out in disgust (don't! you'll be sorry! You will find that there's no pity for a faint heart anymore than there was appreciation for wise-ass tricks!). The next step, once the major business has been concluded, is to get your weary tongue back up into that ass, and dig out whatever got left behind. Again, remember to keep your face pressed tightly against that ass, so no smell escapes. Get your tongue up inside the anus (you will find that easier now, as the anus should be a bit distended after the shit passed through), and use it as a kind of scoop. Bring each morsel back into your mouth, chew it, and swallow. Continue to do this until your tongue starts to come back clean, and all traces of shit, from as far up as you can go, have been transferred from CmdrTaco's rectum to your stomach.
(At some point, CmdrTaco will probably introduce you to deeper cleansing of his bowels, but let's take one step at a time--he only does that occasionally anyway, whereas ordinary toilet duty is something you have to do every day.)
Now, carefully clean up the outside of his ass with your tongue, salivate a mouthful of spit or two and swallow to rinse your mouth, and then lick your lips clean carefully to make sure that every trace of shit is gone. (You'll find that the flavor is still with you, but HE can't smell it--which is curious and funny at first.) By kissing the back of his scrotum sack gently, you indicate that you have completed your task.
CmdrTaco will now get up, and you should kneel again while he turns to face you. Check the sneaker you had on your chest:
if a few extra drops of piss came out while CmdrTaco pushed his shit into your mouth, lap 'em up. If he came because you were doing a halfway decent job on him, so much the better--lap up the sperm too--usually that's pretty slimy and gross, but you'll find it almost welcome at this moment! Of course, if YOU came, you should not wait to be told to lap it up off the floor (CmdrTaco sometimes requires that me to wear a scumbag--if you are made to do this, now is the time to empty it into your mouth).
If CmdrTaco has a hard-on at this point, he will give you his instructions (if he wants a suck-off, don't forget to slurp up some more fresh water from the toilet to rinse yourself first--but DON'T rinse with water unless it is a question of soiling our Father's body).
More usually, though, you now simply haul up his underwear or pajamas--you will need to use your hands for this, but again, there is that special ritual with buttonfly pants of kissing each button before and after it is inserted into the buttonhole. Buckle his belt, or tie up his sweatpants, and there you are! You've done it!
Except for one absolutely essential thing which you must NEVER forget. Get down on his feet, or sneakers, kiss them, and say, with emotion, and if you can manage it, a tear of gratitude: "Thank you, Father."
Then, lower your eyes and wait for him to leave the bathroom before putting on your clothes.
Take care not to belch--not only in front of CmdrTaco (because you will burp up the shitstink), but not after he leaves, either. Burping it up again will only bring all the stink back up, and is one of those things that will push you over the edge and have you puking your guts out. Try to avoid retching it all up again. First of all, if CmdrTaco should discover that you've upchucked his shit, it's got to all go back down your throat again anyway (this once happened to me, and it's really horrible). In fact, every so often CmdrTaco will "test" you when you're all done, and do a few things DESIGNED to tempt you to throw up, like for instance, picking his nose and making you hold it in your mouth, or sticking his finger in your mouth to provoke your gag reflex. Once he made me smell one of his REALLY ripe sneakers just after I had done morning toilet duty on a particularly big and evil-tasting turd--and I swear, I had it up in my mouth and down my throat again about three times--but I didn't let it out!
But even if you are sure CmdrTaco won't know, don't puke it up. If you thought it was unsavory going down, you can't imagine how awful it is coming back up. Also, it's a good idea not to eat anything else for a while, at least until you are out of danger. Of course, you should keep your mind off thoughts which might stir up nausea again, including going over what you've just done in your mind. Take it easy; you've done it, and tomorrow you'll get another chance--there's no need to review it now.
Paradoxically, you may need to cum at this point; you can jerk yourself off--I know that this daily ritual never failed to fetch me out, when it was all over. You will also find that you have trouble looking at yourself in a mirror. But after all, you deserve everything you just got, don't you? And another thing--CmdrTaco can get very inventive, so don't think for a moment that this is as bad as it gets--this is just routine stuff.
I'll try to prepare some study notes on some of the other things you're going to have to do--but this struck me as an important one to get out of the way right at the beginning, so that you can start practicing NOW.
There are times when CmdrTaco will excuse you from your morning toilet duty, or will choose to shit on your chest instead of in your mouth. These are, in general, not exactly occasions for rejoicing, but are rather, indications that worse things are yet to come.
One thing you may be sure of, however: you're CmdrTaco's son, and you may be sure that NO shit whatsoever will escape at least ONE trip into your mouth, down your throat, through your stomach and gut, and out your asshole--though HOW and WHEN it gets into your mouth is an open question. One thing I will say, though: not once have I performed ordinary morning toilet duty and said "Thank you, CmdrTaco" without real relief and gratitude that that was ALL I had to suffer through to please CmdrTaco with respect to that particular dump of shit. You will soon find the same to be true for yourself, I am certain.
Let me put it this way, kid: Hell has no surprises in store for either of us once we have served as CmdrTaco's slaveboys! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you need advice.
And let me know how it goes; it's too bad YOU don't have a kid brother to suck you off after these morning rituals as I did; but you can always jerk yourself off, and if you keep practicing the exercises I taught you, you'll even be able to suck yourself off soon. Remember, if you don't do a good job on CmdrTaco, we're both going to suffer for it: you for being a jerk, and me for not training you right.
Let me know how it goes.
Your best friend,
Jon Katz
Niggers and wogs have no right to be here. They belong in their homeland, not ours.
Join with us in restoring Britain - British National Party
From a programming standpoint, Quake 3 is a marvel, but I wouldn't exactly call it a marvel in game physics. The game relies mostly on characters within bounding boxes. There isn't much interaction with the environment other than shooting at objects, jumping, or falling.
From a physics standpoint, the most impressive things about the Quake series is most likely its lighting. Even though this is a pre-calculated lightmap, radiosity isn't really a simple thing.
Trespasser was years ahead of Quake in this area. Boxes would shatter, and each pieces of wood would scatter everywhere. Too bad the game didn't do much else right.
Doom 3 is supposed to be worlds better. Enemies are supposed to be able to fall down steps, more interaction, etc.
Remember that the Graphics Engine for Doom was done a while back, around the time he started Armadillo Airspace. Think about what's left for him to explore. AI and Game Physics are two big regions.
I'm expecting Doom 3 to be a lot of things that all other Id games weren't. AA plays a big part of my expectations.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Well I can hope can't I?
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
John should get in touch with rocket entrepreneur Art Bell. Promoting John Carmack's venture could really use the help of Art Bell He has an excellent track record of publicizing unorthodox space ventures. And Art Bell is one of the few venues which will reach a larger audience than Slashdot! For those unfamiliar with Art Bell, he hosts a nightly radio show which is heard worldwide. It is devoted to space exploration and "midnight" engineering.
I remember building model rockets back in the 8th grade. Mine wasn't the best painted, and it's fins weren't perfectly straight, but it flew and I had a lot of fun. I guess I needed this article to remind me of that. Thanks John ( and Slashdot ).
So, anyone have any links for someone looking to get into amature rockets?
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
It's ok, he got a haircut. The question is, can he tuck all that ego inside a space helmet?
"If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he's sorely mistaken." Bush on bin Laden
I know I'm going to get modded down for this, but it has to be said:
1. Enough with the negativity about this kind of thing being better left to the professionals. Do you really think that the professionals can do any better? It's not like NASA has been pounding out the new rocket designs. You have to give Carmack credit in that he's experimenting and moving forward rather than getting bogged down in bureacracy and corporate politics.
2. DOOM 3 shouldn't even be mentioned here. It's not like there's any kind of real overlap between rocketry and game development. I love the guy who seems to think that Carmack will now understand physics better so he can put it to good use in DOOM 3. Bizarre.
... recruit some Space Marines to go fight the Strogos for him or something...
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Maybe Commander Keen has finally gone to John's Head....
Billy Blaze, eight year-old genius, working diligently in his backyard clubhouse has created an interstellar starship from old soup cans, rubber cement and plastic tubing. While his folks are out on the town and the babysitter has fallen asleep, Billy travels into his backyard workshop, dons his brother's football helmet, and transforms into...
COMMANDER KEEN--defender of Earth!
In his ship, the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket, Keen dispenses galactic justice with an iron hand!
Am I the only one who doesn't think the guy who made games about demons coming from a space base should be the one helping to fund tourist space shuttle trips?
Come on -- I can be twice the rocket-scientist he is, given enough dough. It's not the smarts that needs to be spread around (I would wager that many /.ers are capable of exactly what Carmack is doing, if not more), it's rather the tens of millions of disposable income that he has but we do not that's keeping us from similar (possibly - make that undoubtedly - better rocket projects)
for most of us -- by the time we have a tenth of that amount of money, we will have kids, family, and retirement to think about. Time, energy, and ambition all have gone down -- when you are worried about your teenage children and the abundance of E in raves, spare-time rocket-building take a backseat. Young + have money for an expensive hobby does not make you a good rocket-scientist by any means (even though i admire his spirit and all)
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Romero also likes slow moving lifts... Won't a rocket ascend too fast for him? He might get giddy and complain about level design a lot. ;)
beats reading about new dvd standards or which os everybody is using.
I think ole Carmack may have taken the concept of "rocket jumping" a little too far....
You mean, like, stomach-mounted rocket launchers? :)
- SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
in all versions of quake, rockets never really followed any real physics. they always flew at a constant speed, no matter how fast you were running (flying) while you launched them. doesnt he know the speed of the rocket should be rocket thrust speed + speed of person at time of launch?
"you're" = "you are"
Pigs can learn to operate joysticks, yet human beings still can't figure this out. Morons.
I think it is an interesting symbolism that Carmack is involved in design of rockets for cheap access to space.
In many science fiction books there are two trends for the near future (there are a lot more but these are two major ones). Distopia is typically presented by heavily cybernetic society where the humanity is not really concerned about space. The other trend, is diametrically opposite with humanity focused on space exploration.
Carmack is in a sense a protagonist of future distopia as a designer of cybernetic worlds that are becoming increasingly important to our society (graphics acceleration business, success of 3D animation, even the debates over the impact of the violence in video games). People like Carmack working on rockets is a sign that our future does not have to be a choice between space and cyberspace.
BANG! ZOOM! Right to the moon!
There is a big difference in "grey" tape. The most common type is duct, not duck, tape. This is what you find at your local hardware store. Yes, it has many uses.
Then there is gaffers tape, a much higher quality product. And, as you might guess more expensive.
Ya know it seems to me that jealousy of John's success at doing what we all would LIKE to be doing seems a prime motive for most of these comments posted on this topic.
*--- Sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side. ---*
Who are the pros? NASA? These guys can't get their metric/English units converted properly in their software. I doubt Carmack would make that mistake. The European Space Agency? They put the wrong software in an Arianne rocket which ended in its destruction.
Seems to me there's plenty of room for "non" professionals in the field because the pros are making plenty of stupid moves.
Kind of reminds me of my boss. Our software has a wide range of applications but he wants to stick to areas where we have "niche knowledge." Well, the fact is, we won't get "niche knowledge" in other niches unless we actually apply it to other areas. Want to become a pro? You gotta be a novice first. Kudos to Carmack.
NASA is the problem - go read Kings of the High Frontier to understand the solution.
All of the /. joke posters must be home alone, chugging beers until their world becomes a haze of barley and hops and passes out.
/noclip on with these rockets!"
Why do I say this? Because there are NO Carmack/Quake/Rocketry jokes.
Like:
New Poll:
Name of Carmack's first rocket:
FragFest
Pineapple Express
HAB (High Altitude Bastard)
RJ-101
BFR (Big F*n Rocket)
Doom-ed
CowboyNeal!
Or... "I hope that he leaves
Or... "What's the code to turn godmode on in his rocketship?"
Or... "Will he call the rockets that crash WADs?"
Or... "To Hell with outfitting the ship with a BFG, I'll be happy if he puts in a BFP (Big F*n Parachute)."
Or... "If the ship's AI is the same as the Quake bots, then I think I'll stick to driving"
Or... "Will a little network jack icon appear just before you crash and die?"
I personally want to show up on E's Wild On, but hey thats just me ;)
Don't blame the English, who converted to metric measurements, along with the rest of the civilised world, 50 years ago. The only thickos left using Imperial measurements are the Yanks, who persist despite the glaringly obvious disadvantages, supposedly because they think it's a commie plot. Typical Dumbasses.
I remember the subject of who was the best programmer or type of programmer coming up many times on slashdot. I remember that many said Carmack for quake 3. I'm not sure I agree, but I also remember people saying that Carmack had nothing on the NASA guys, and to them he was some ignorant rube.
Well, if Carmack gets his rocket into space, I think we need to see a NASA guy build the fastest texture mapped 3d engine. To be sure.
WWJD? JWRTFA!
I remember watching an interview with Carmack, made on the last game show. He said the engine is done, and I guess he is now just waiting for the rest of the gang to finish the monsters and the levels and all the other art. Now that is what really takes time.
I work with H2O2 regularly and I can tell you from experience that concentrations of 50% and down are comparatively benign. Concentrations of 30% and 50% will give you a nasty white rash if you come in contact with them. The rash forms within about 10 seconds of contact, faster if the concentration is higher. The rash last for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and then goes away. Meanwhile, the skin remains tender for some time afterwards.
Concentrations exceeding approximately 74% require more care and consideration, both in storage and handling.
-Hope